Printing apparatus



April 9, 1963 H. T. KELSH PRINTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed. Feb. 23. 1960 INVENTOR. HARRY T. KELSH ATTORNEY April 9, 1963 H. T. KELSH PRINTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1960 m\\\\\\\\\\ .l w 37 INVENTOR.

HARRY T. KELS H wag/W ATTORNEY H. T. KELSH PRINTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. HARRY T1 KELSH ATTO R NEY April 9, 1963 Filed Feb. 23, 1960 FIG. 6.

FIG. 7.

April 9, 1963 H. T. KELSH PRINTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 23, 1960 H 8 mL ME K WT Y R R A H ATTORN EY United States Patent 3,085,154 PRHYTING APPARATUS Harry T. Kelsh, Washington, D.C., assignor to The Kelsh Instrument Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Feb. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 10,152 13 Claims. (Cl. 250-65) This invention relates to printing apparatus and it is more particularly concerned with the production from negative films of slides or diapositives used especially in aerial mapping devices, but having general application in the photographic art.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of a printing apparatus of the type mentioned which results in dodging of the final print.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a printer of the type mentioned in which light projected through the negative to the slide is of a modified form to produce a dodged print.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a printer of the type mentioned which is particularly adaptable to the provision of diapositives or glass slides used in aerial mapping instruments, such as the Kelsh Plotter.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a projection printer of the type mentioned which is capable of utilizing a phosphor screen as a source of projection light and means for exciting the screen to luminescence and for modifying the luminescence to achieve dodging on a final print. 1

These and still further objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear more fully from the following description considered together with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sect-ion through an embodiment of the invention in a vertical plane along the line 11 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same embodiment in a vertical plane 90 to the plane of FIG. 1 as denoted along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the embodiment along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the embodiment along the line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a fragmentary portion of FIG. 1 showing in better detail the infra-red radiation units and appurtenant parts.

FIG. 6 is a section along the line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a section along the line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view along the line 88 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the infra-red unit in its pulled out or access position.

FIG. 10 is a section along the line 1010 of FIG. 4.

Referring with more particularity to the drawing, in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the embodiment illustrated comprises vertical side walls 11, 12, 13 and 14, top wall 15 and bottom wall 16 forming together a rectangular housing or box 17.

The housing 17 is supported as a unit on conventional offset legs 18, one leg being at each bottom corner, and each leg having an adjustable foot 19.

In the lower part of the housing there is disposed a horizontal shelf 20 having a central rectangular aperture 21 of a size larger than the frames of the film containing the images to be printed. The upper edges of the shelf 20 adjacent the aperture 21 is rabbeted to provide upwardly facing shoulders 22, 23, 24 and 25 to support a phosphor plate or screen 26 flush with the upper surface 27 of the shelf 20.

3,085,154 Patented Apr. 9, 1963 The film overlies the plate 26 and will usually be in the form of a continuous roll 28 of frames, although it may also be in the form of a separate, independent frame.

The film roll 28 is removably disposed on a conventional spool 29 between brackets 30 and 31 on one side adjacent the wall 14. A slit 32 in the wall 12 just above the shelf 20, constitutes an entrance opening for the film and a slit 33 on the opposite side wall 14 constitutes an exit opening for the film or vice versa. A take-up spool 34 for the film is disposed on the exterior of the wall 14 adjacent the slit 33 between brackets 35 and 36. Rollers 37 and 38 are disposed adjacent the slits to guide the film into and out of the respective slits.

A transparent press plate 39 of glass or of any other suitable material overlies the phosphor plate 26 and extends beyond its edges to provide marginal extension areas. As shown in the drawing, the film is disposed between the phosphor plate and the press plate. The press plate is held in position against relative horizontal movement by posts 40 anchored to the shelf 20' and projecting upwardly through and beyond apertures 41, in the said marginal areas of the plate 39. (See FIG. 10.) These posts are provided with sleeves 42 pressure springs 43 on the sleeves, respectively, and nuts 44, in threaded engagement with the upper ends of the posts above the springs to adjust the force of the springs against the sleeves and press plate.

The press plate is raised against the force of these springs by a linkage which comprises a pair of horizontal trunnions 45 and 46 attached to opposite sides of the press plate 39 by means of lugs or brackets 47 and 48. These trunnions extend outwardly from the brackets and overlie the outer ends of a pair of arms 49 and 50, respectively. The inner ends of the arms 49 and 50 are connected to a shaft 51 adjacent and parallel to the side wall 13. The ends of shaft 51 are rotatably mounted in brackets 52 and 53 mounted on the shelf 20. The upward movement of the arms 49 and 50 causes the outer ends to rotate with the shaft 51 and the inner ends to elevate the press plate 39 by engagement with the trunnions 45 and 46.

Upward movement of the arms 49 and 50 is effected by a pair of stanchions 54 and 55 slidably mounted in apertures 56 and 57 of shelf 20 underlying apertures 58 and 59 of the bottom wall 16, and apertures 60 and 61 of an intermediate shelf 62. The upper ends 63 and 64 of the stanchions are rounded and bear against the underside of horizontal lobes 65 and 66, respectively, secured to and projecting outwardly from the arms 49 and 50.

The lower ends of the stanchions extend below the bottom wall 16 to which collars 67 and 68 are attached by means of set screws such as set screw 69 in collar 68. (See FIG. 3.) A pair of angle bars 70 and 71 have vertical sides 72 and 73 pivoted by means of bolts 74 and 75 to vertical walls 76 and 77, respectively, of a U-shaped bracket 78 attached to the lower side of the bottom wall 16 by rivets 79 and 80.

Horizontal sides 81 and 82 of the bars 70 and 71 are provided with apertures, such as the aperture 83 in side 82 (see FIG. 3) to receive the ends of the stanchions below the collars. The bars 70 and 71 extend forwardly and a cross bar 84 is attached thereto as a foot pedal for the operator.

By these means, when the cross bar 84 is pressed down, the pivoted bars 70 and 71 working against the collars 67 and 68 elevate the stanchions 54 and 55 which, in turn, elevate the arms 49 and 50 and carry with them the press plate 39 against the force of the pressure springs 43. This releases the film, whereupon another frame of the roll 28 can be moved into position over the phosphor plate 26, whereupon the cross bar 84 is released and the pressure springs 43 force the press plate down against the newly positioned filin' name;

Below the aperture 21 there are disposed a group of ultra violet lamps 85. These may be of a conventional type, such as fluorescent tubes mounted on conventional fixtures 86 attached to the shelf 62 below the shelf 20.

The top wall 15 has a central square aperture 87 therethrough. Within this aperture there is disposed the upper end of a light shield 88 in the form of a rectangular wall 89. I This wall is provided with an outwardly extending flange 99 which rests in a recess 91 o'f'the top wall 15 adjacent the aperture 87.

The upper edge 92 of the wall 89 constitutes a seat for supporting a'photographic plate 93 to be exposed to the light rays from the phosphor plate 26.

From the'wall 89, the shield 83 extends downwardly and converges to a bottom end section'94 having an annular wall with internal threads. The housing 95 of a mounted lens hasan upper threaded end adapted to engage the threads of the end section 94and be supported thereby;

The lens within the housing 95 is normally midway between the plate26 and the plane ofthe edge 91- for a 1 to 1' projection, that is, where the projected image is the same size as the corresponding image on the film 28. The lens housing 95, however, is vertically adjustable by means of an adjusting ring 96 in order to change the focal length to conform, where indicated, to the exact focal length of the camera which took the photographs reproduced on the film 28. A group of adjustable mounting screws 97 threadedly engage the flange 90 and rest on the recess 91, whereby the entire light shield 88 is adjustably supported relative to the plane of the plate 2 6.

The lower part of the light shield 88 is straddled by a pair of lamp housings 98 and 99. These lamp housings each extend along one of the side walls'12 and 14, respectively, from the front wall 11 to the rear wall 13 and they are mounted on telescoping extension tracks 100 and 101, respectively, of the type conventionally used in filing cabinets of the so-called suspension-type drawers, by means of brackets 102 and 103, respectively.

The lower part of each lamp housing comprises side walls 104 and'lflS and end walls 106 and 107. These walls are provided with lip flanges 108, 109, 110 and 111 at the bottom to support an infra-red filter 112 of glass or other suitable material. This filter constitutes the bottom wallof the housing.

The upper part ofeach lamphousing comprises a dome having an upper end panel 113 and side panels 114 and 115 sloping outwardly therebelow to contact the side walls vltl i ancl ltl'to which they are removably secured by bolts 116.- End panels 117 and 118 extend downwardly frorn t he panel 113 to sidelap the end walls 106 and 107, substantially as shown. I V

The upper end panel 113 of the dome is provided with a group of electrical so'ckets 119 for electrical lamps 120. Accordingly, light emanating'from these lamps is filtered by the filter 1=12 resulting in infra-red radiation passing through the press plate 39 and the film'against the phosphor plate 26 on the side thereof opposite the ultra violet lamps 85. I a The lamp housings 98 and 99 are attached by welding or otherwise to a panel 121 of the back Wall 13. This panel 121 is separate from the remaining part of the wall 13 and is provided with a pull out handle 122, whereby the lamp housings can be withdrawn as a unit from the enclosure, as shown in FIG. 9, for the purpose of servicing them, or for other purposes.

The upper end of'the vertical light shield 88 is provided with a flanged cover 123, the flanges 124 of which in the closed position surround the upper end of the wall 89.

The back side of the cover 123' is hinged to brackets 125 projecting upward from the flange 90 while the front is provided with a forwardly oflset flange 126 containing recessed magnets 127 along the bottom. These magnets are adapted to fall in proximity to magnetic bars 128 re- 'cesse'd in the top wall when the cover is closed.

A handle 129 is also provided for the cover for manually opening and closing it, as my be needed.

A door 130 is provided over an access opening 131 of the front panel 11, for servicing inner parts of the device or for any other purpose which may be necessary.

In actual use, with the light'shield 88 and projection lens in adjusted positions, thQCOVCl' 123 is opened and a diapositive plate 93'is'plac'ed" in position on the top of the wall 89. The cover is then closed and the film frame to be usedis placed between the phosphor plate 26 and the press plate 39, as explained above.

,The ultra violet lamps and the lamps 120 are then turned "multaneo'iisly; The effect of the ,ultra violet rad'iatio s to cause the phosphor plate to lumine'sce; The infra-red radiation'falli n'gon the other side of the phosphor plate through the film quenches areas of luminescence of the screen to a degree in inverse relation to the densities of the areas of the film over the phosphor plate; but within a more restricted range than the variations of densities of the film itself, thus achieving a dodged image which is projected through the projection lens to the diapositive plate 93.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A photographic projection printer comprising a phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra violet radiation, means for supporting the plate and exposing one side of it to ultra violet radiation, means for bringing into direct contact with the opposite side of the plate a film having areas of varying light transmission defining a photographed image, means for supporting a photographic light sensitive plate on said opposite side ina plane spaced from said film, a lens between said film and said plane for receiving light from said phosphor plate and projecting it to said plane, and means for exposing the said opposite side of the phosphor plate to infra-red radiation simultaneously with the exposure of the other side to the ultra violet radiation.

2. A photographic projection printer comprising a phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra violetradiation, means for supporting the plate and exposing one side of it to ultra violet radiation, means for bringing into direct contact with the opposite 'side of the plate a film having areas of varying light transmission defining aphotographed image, means for supporting a photographic light sensitive plate on said opposite side ina plane spaced from the film, a lens between said film and said plane for receiving light from said phosphor plate and projecting it to said plane, a light shield between the lens and the plane surrounding the path of light projected by the lens to the plane.

3. A photographic projection printer comprising a phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra yiolet radiation, means for supporting the plate and exposrngone side of'it to ultra violet radiation, a transparentpress plate, means for yieldably urging said press plate against the opposite side of the phosphor plate, means for selectively inserting between the press plate and the phosphor plate a negative film from which a print is to be made, means for supporting a light sensit1ve plate on said opposite side in a plane spaced from the film, a lens between said opposite side and said plane for receiving light from the phosphor plane and proecting it to said plane, and means for exposing the opposite side of the phosphor plate to infra red radiation simultaneously with the exposure of the other side to the ultra violet radiation.

4. A photographic printer as defined by claim 3 in which the press plate is biased toward the phosphor plate by resiliently yieldable means, a mechanical linkage for selectively separating the press plate from the phosphor plate to permit insertion of the film, and a remote control member for actuating the linkage against the resiliently yieldable means.

5. A photographic projection printer comprising a phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra-violet radiation, means for exposing one side of the plate to ultra-violet radiation, a transparent film press plate on the opposite side of the phosphor plate, a support member for holding a light sensitive plate on the said opposite side of the phosphor plate in a plane spaced from the press plate, a lens between the said support and press plate for projecting light from the phosphor plate and forming an image in said plane, a tubular light shield between said lens and plane surrounding the path of light projected by the lens to the plane, and a source of infra-red radiation on the exterior of the light shield between the lens and the plane for irradiating the said opposite side of the phosphor plate.

6-. A photographic projection printer as defined by claim 5 and means for adjusting the position of said support member relative to the phosphor plate.

7. A photographic projection printer as defined by claim 6 and a cover for selectively enclosing the support member.

8. A photographic printer comprising wall members forming a vertically elongated enclosure, a phosphor plate within the enclosure capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra-violet radiation, means for flooding one side of the plate with ultra-violet radiation, a transparent press plate for holding film on the opposite side of the phosphor plate, means for supporting a light sensitive plate on the said opposite side of the phosphor plate in a plane spaced from the press plate, a lens between the said support and press plate for receiving light from the phosphor plate and projecting it to the plane, a light shield between the lens and the plane, a source of infra-red radiation for the said opposite side of the phosphor plate on the exterior side of the light shield within the enclosure, means for passing a continuous strip of film through the enclosure between the phosphor plate and press plate, and means for supporting portions of the strip of film on the exterior of the enclosure in roll form.

9. A photographic projection printer comprising a phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra violet radiation, means for supporting the plate and exposing one side of it to ultra violet radiation, means for bringing into direct contact with the opposite side of the plate a film having areas of varying light transmission defining a photographed image, means for supporting a photographic light sensitive plate on said opposite side in a plane spaced from said film, a lens between said film and said plane for receiving light from said phosphor plate and projecting it to said plane, and means for exposing the said opposite side of the phosphor plate to infra-red radiation and means for shielding the plane from the infra-red radiation.

10. A photographic projection printer for making a permanent positive image of a photographic plate from a negative film comprising:

(a) Opaque panels forming an enclosure;

(b) -A phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra-violet radiation;

(0) Means for supporting the plate within the enclosure;

(d) A source of ultra-violet radiation within the enclosure on one side of the plate;

(0) Means on the exterior of the enclosure for supporting a continuous flexible strip of film;

(f) Said panels including members having openings therethrough for passage of the film between the exterior and interior of the enclosure across the opposite side of the plate;

(g) Independent means, including a movable member on the exterior of the enclosure, for releasably pressing an adjacent section of the strip of film into direct contact with said opposite side of the plate;

(It) Means for removably supporting a photo-sensitive plate on said opposite side of the phosphor plate within the enclosure in a plane parallel to said film;

(i) A projection lens between said film and said photosensitive plate for receiving light from said phosphor plate and projecting it to said photo-sensitive plate;

(j) A source of infra-red radiation within the enclosure;

(k) Means for exposing the said opposite side of the phosphor plate to said infra-red radiation source simultaneously with the exposure of its other side to the ultra-violet radiation source; and

(l) A light shield for excluding from the photo-sensitive plate light extraneous to the lens.

'11. A printer as defined by claim 10 in which the light shield is tubular and extends from the lens to the photosensitive plate.

12. A photographic projection printer for making a permanent positive image on a photographic plate from a negative film comprising opaque members forming an enclosure, a phosphor plate capable of being excited to luminescence by ultra-violet radiation, means for supporting the plate within the enclosure, a source of ultraviolet radiation within the enclosure on one side of the plate, means for supporting a flexible strip of film in direct contact with the opposite side of the plate, means for removably supporting a photo-sensitive plate on the said opposite side of the phosphor plate in a plane within the enclosure parallel to the film strip, a projection lens between said film and said photo-sensitive plate for receiving light from said phosphor plate and projecting it to said photo-sensitive plate, a source of infra-red radiation within the enclosure, and means for exposing the said opposite side of the phosphor plate to said infrared radiation source simultaneously with the exposure of its other side to the ultra-violet radiation source.

13. A photographic projection printer as defined by claim 1:1 in which the enclosure is vertically elongated, the phosphor plate is supported at the bottom of the enclosure and the photo-sensitive plate is supported at the upper end of the enclosure, said opaque members including a removable access cover directly overlying the photosensitive plate at the upper end of the enclosure.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,357,391 Freytag Nov. 2, 1920 2,482,814 Urbach Sept. 27, 1949 2,996,617 Heckscher Aug. 15, 1961 3,015,028 Clark Dec. 26, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,002,056 France Oct. 31, 1951 461,938 Italy Feb. 20; 1 

1. A PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECTION PRINTER COMPRISING A PHOSPHOR PLATE CAPABLE OF BEING EXCITED TO LUMINESCENCE BY ULTRA VIOLET RADIATION, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE PLATE AND EXPOSING ONE SIDE OF IT TO ULTRA VIOLET RADIATION, MEANS FOR BRINGING INTO DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PLATE A FILM HAVING AREAS OF VARYING LIGHT TRANSMISSION DEFINING A PHOTOGRAPHED IMAGE, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHT SENSITIVE PLATE ON SAID OPPOSITE SIDE IN A PLANE SPACED FROM SAID FILM, A LENS BETWEEN SAID FILM AND SAID PLANE FOR RECEIVING LIGHT FROM SAID PHOSPHOR PLATE AND PROJECTING IT TO SAID PLANE, AND MEANS FOR EXPOSING THE SAID OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PHOSPHOR 